Weekly Pickups: Sexy laundry detergent and authentic frozen pierogi

+ actually good protein shake

Hello hello!

This week, our Weekly Pickups is extra special—because in addition to getting our favorite picks of the week, you also get an education on the hottest topic in CPG (sarcastic, but also not…): retail deductions.

If you’re a brand in retail, you’ve likely faced this icky reality: up to 10% of your P&L is trapped in invalid fees and inefficient retail operations. Up to 10%!!! That is massive, and could make or break your retail success. That’s why our friends at Glimpse help leading consumer brands unlock retail cashflow by automating critical finance workflows like revenue recovery via deduction management and accounting reconciliation (translation: they get your money back from retailers when you've been wrongly charged, and make sure your books actually match what's happening at places like UNFI and KeHE).

Glimpse works with 200+ brands including IQ Bar, Sauz, Bero, and more—automating their retail deductions so they can stop manually chasing down spreadsheets and start focusing on actually growing their brands. This could be you, too!!

Now, let’s get into our pickups of the week →

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Jenna’s Pickup:

Wishing Well - Boyfriend Material

Never thought I’d be out here raving about laundry detergent… but here we are. Because, in the year of our lord 2026, fancy laundry detergent is having a moment. There are now multiple premium, scent-forward laundry detergents on the market—unsurprising, given where the rest of CPG has headed—that are giving Gain a run for its money.

Admittedly, I haven’t found myself running to try most. Partly because many of these premium detergents are premium priced—upwards of $1 per load of laundry. But then I discovered Wishing Well, a brand that launched a little over a year ago. Wishing Well comes from two best friends who quit their finance jobs to go all-in on “making laundry feel like self-care,” (sounds like an oxymoron) and—by some stroke of magic—I think they’ve achieved it.

• Quick Facts: Non-toxic, eco-friendly, ultra-concentrated laundry detergent in the brand’s newest androgynous, woodsy scent (just launched this week!).

• Reasons to love:

  • I want everything to smell like this. I am an absolute sucker for a woodsy scent, anything piney and bonfire-y yet still clean. I find myself gravitating towards scents with “musk” in the description—though I admittedly still don’t know what that means—and can’t stand anything overwhelmingly floral, which is how most laundry detergents smell to me. At the same time, I don’t like a fully unscented detergent—I want proof that I washed my things! I want compliments from passersby! I want clothes hanging from a drying rack in my apartment to offer something to the ambiance, and not just be an eye sore!

    
    As evidenced by the name, this detergent is intended to smell more masculine. But with notes of bergamot and geranium, it has a hint of sweetness and femininity—nothing cloying, just enough to give it that clean, bright quality you seek in a fresh wash. I want my whole body, home, and life to smell like this—luckily, when you wash something in this scent, that’s basically what ends up happening.

  • Clean ingredients, but still effective. There are a lot of “natural” detergents out there now, but not all of them are very… effective. As someone who stains basically everything I’ve ever owned, I need my detergent to put in some work. Wishing Well’s ultra-concentrated formula is made with a blend of enzymes that help break down tough stains, but it also is free of ingredients commonly found in detergents that can be considered toxic, and are sometimes linked to skin irritation (like 1,4 Dioxane, formaldehyde, and chlorine bleach).

  • More sustainable! This plastic-free (aluminum) bottle is full of ultra-concentrated detergent. Unlike most detergents, it isn’t loaded with water—which means it’s far less wasteful and a little goes a long way. I also just love the experience of using a pump! It’s mess-free and super easy to “dose.”

Where to buy: Online

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Nate’s Pickup:

Veselka Frozen Pierogi

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know how much I love the frozen food space. I really think there hasn’t been a better time for the category! I actually penned a whole piece for the Quality Edit on why we’re going through a frozen food renaissance. We are also seeing a restaurant-to-CPG renaissance, and these pierogi fit right at that intersection. Plus, they’re bringing the amazing Veselka restaurant to grocery stores, and trust me, they don’t miss.

• Quick Facts: Veselka is the iconic Ukrainian restaurant in New York City’s East Village that’s been hand-crimping their legendary pierogi since 1954. Now they’ve brought that same handmade quality from the restaurant to the freezer aisle. The frozen retail line typically includes their most popular varieties: Potato & Cheese, Rustic Chicken, and Braised Beef Short Rib.

• Reasons to love:

  • Resturant-to-CPG done right. These taste fresh, like you just sat down at their restaurant fresh. it’s honestly wild what brands are doing with frozen food these days. With the frozen format, it can be hard to keep the product’s integrity without sacrificing something. But they nailed it. Plus, the branding, aesthetic, and most importantly quality hits right that doesn’t diminish anything about the brand.

  • Flavors are bold af. When I say bold, I mean bold. They’re so freaking good! The beef one stands out to be as the best of the bunch, but they’re all great.

  • Cooking is stupid easy. I love that I can simply boil or pan-sear these bad boys. Frozen food at the end of the day is a convenience play, and I don’t want to be basically cooking from scratch once I take something out of the freezer. It should be easy and straightforward. Obviously the most straightforward is the microwave, but I think I can boil some water pretty easily if I do say so myself. Both recommended methods result in a beautiful product.

Where to buy: On FreshDirect and at select stores nationwide

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✨ Special Guest ✨ Akash Raju, Co-founder and CEO of Glimpse

Akash Raju is the CEO and co-founder of Glimpse, the retail deduction management platform trusted by 200+ leading CPG brands (see: intro ◡̈ ). When he’s not automating retail deductions and making operators’ lives significantly easier, Akash is trying new CPG brands that help fuel him as a busy founder.

Here’s what he’s loving these days… →

What is it? Not to be a founder stereotype, but my go-to right now is a Huel protein shake, specifically the RTD shakes. These shakes are nutritionally complete, featuring all 27 essential vitamins and minerals, protein, essential fats, carbs, fiber, and phytonutrients in a single product. I’ve been reaching for these a ton as someone who’s usually on the go. In the warmer months, I loved having these around to pound before a pickup game.

What about this product intrigued you? I was super into how their mission goes much deeper than just “convenience.” They are so thoughtful with product development, creating a truly sustainable product from plant-based ingredients that are better for you and for the planet. They’re reimagining what it means to have long-term shelf stability, and showing that long-shelf lives doesn’t have to equate to overly processed ingredients.

Why do you love it? I like that the shakes don’t have the chalky taste that some other ones on the market do. Drinking protein shakes for the sake of it is not enjoyable usually, so they really won me over with the taste and convenience — I’m an in-store, grab-and-go type of guy over ordering to my house, and these are available at Target.

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In this week’s episode of The Curious Consumer…

Why gummy supplements are everywhere now

Thanks for reading! Anything you think we should try for an upcoming edition of Express Checkout? Email us at hello@expresscheckout.co

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